Race Against Time
by Meitantei Mystery
Summary: Mouri Kogoro finds himself in extreme danger from an unknown source. Who is targeting him, and why? How are Conan and Ran going to solve the mystery behind it all if they don't even know what's going on?


Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or situations presented in Detective Conan. It would be nice, but I don't.

Author's Notes: I finally wrote another fanfic to publish. Contrary to _Star-Crossed Lovers_, this one looks like it's going to focus more on the dynamics and relationships between Kogoro, Conan, and Ran; rather than Shinichi and Ran's relationship. Read and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Summary: Kogoro's night out is rudely interrupted by a strange happening. Who are these people, and what grudge do they have with the famous detective? Or…are they after him for another, younger, reason?

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Race Against Time  
A Detective Conan Fanfiction 

File 1: Sinister Intentions

* * *

It was a simple, ordinary night for the three residents of the Mouri household. Ran was cooking a dinner, Kogoro was working on some case, and Conan… 

"Hey! What are you doing, brat! Get away from my desk!" THWACK. "Ran, is dinner ready yet?"

"Ow! Ran-neechan, I wasn't doing anything!" the boy called for assistance.

"Don't even start! You messed up that timeline I was working on! This serial killer is an expert, and if I figure out exactly what he's been doing I might be able to figure out a next victim!"

"But it was all wrong! You misplaced those two murders, and besides that these times were just-"

"Will both of you shut up? Maybe I just won't cook anything at all!"

A chorus of apologies broke out from the next room. Ran sighed and pressed her free hand to her temple as she continued to boil the rice.

"Conan, stop bothering my dad and come in here. Maybe you can set the table or something," she conceded. At least she could get the two away from each other for a short time, hopefully enough for Kogoro to let himself calm down. She glanced over as her young charge entered the kitchen, rubbing determinedly at an already-forming bruise on his forehead. She stepped away from the rice and knelt down to inspect her father's handiwork.

"Ooh, Conan, you got clocked good this time. When are you gonna start getting out of the way?" she chided gently. Conan adjusted his glasses and looked up at her innocently.

"I was just trying to help, Ran-neechan," he said. She shook her head. Too many were the squabbles between Kogoro and the well-meaning boy, usually resulting in one of these bruises if Conan was unable to escape the detective's wrath in time. Ran stood up and sighed again. Sometimes it seemed like she was the only sane one in the house, and sometimes she attributed that to being the only woman in said house.

"Touchan, did you have to hit him again? You know he's interested in this sort of thing!" she called into her father's office. A reply came in a string of grumblings, something about how interest wasn't a crime until he messed up evidence. She shook her head. "Dinner is almost ready. Just come sit down and you'll both feel better after you get some food in you." Kogoro quickly appeared in the kitchen and took a deep breath.

"Is that curry you're making?" he asked. Ran nodded.

"Yeah, there was a new curry powder I wanted to try out. Go ahead and sit down," she said as she set the plates of rice on the table and returned to the stove for a moment. Conan and Kogoro sat down at the table, and there was a brief moment of peace.

Of course, it wouldn't last.

To all three of them, it was really unclear what happened. Ran had poured beverages and the two men _seemed _to be sitting peacefully. And then, without warning, Kogoro lunged for Conan, shouting about something or other the boy had muttered. Conan jumped back in his surprise, and Kogoro grasped for the kid again, his arm banging the table and tipping it over. He made one final lunge for the boy before both of them positively froze upon realizing what had happened when the table—or rather the contents of that table—had gone flying.

Ran stood, her hands on her hips, glaring at them angrily. She was also covered in rice. Neither of them could tell if the steam emanating from her body was due to the heat of the food, or if it was from the imminent explosion that they both knew was coming. Kogoro slowly got to his feet and edged towards the door, hoping to escape.

He never had a chance.

"Where…do you think…you're going?" Ran hissed, her hand balling into a fist. Kogoro swallowed loudly, his eyes wide, yet he did not respond. Ran continued her death-glare. "You two can't just sit down and eat a meal anymore, can you! You just have to ruin it with your stupid bickering and just…aargh!" She took a step towards her father with her fist slowly coming up. He blanched and quickly turned away and started walking.

"I'm going out tonight! That sounds good to me right now! I'll hit a bar or something! Don't wait up!" he babbled, grabbing a jacket and quickly going out the front door. Ran took a shuddering breath.

"Yeah, that's right, just run away," she hissed. Without warning her head shot towards Conan, who was also trying to get out of the kitchen without her noticing. "And just _where _do you think you're going, _Conan-kun_?" she asked faux-sweetly. Conan gulped audibly.

"Um…to, uh…well, Ran-neechan, you see…" he searched for something to say, drawing back as Ran approached him with fire in her eyes. With nothing coming to mind, the boy drew his arms in front of his face, seriously fearing extensive pain…

…and Ran stepped by him.

"I'm going to get a shower and change…" she said brightly. "Then we'll fix you something to eat, Conan-kun!" The bathroom door closed, and instantly Conan's head dropped back against the wall with a sigh of relief.

_'Holy crap, I thought I was dead,' _he thought. _'If I was Shinichi, I definitely would have gotten pummeled for something like that…I guess this body does have its uses.'_ He slowly got to his feet. _'Man, I hope that shower calms her down…else I might have to sneak out and call her to get her anger off of me, and, well…onto Shinichi-me. But there's gotta be something I can do…'_ An idea came to him and the teenage-detective-turned-boy set to work.

* * *

The man picked up his cellular phone and dialed a familiar number. He waited for three rings as he kept his eyes on the subject. Then, an answer came. 

"You've reached the Takamori household," came the purely fake machine recording. "I'm sorry we can't take your call right now, but please leave a message and we'll be happy to get back to you!"

"_Fukushuu_," the man spoke quietly, the specific code for his task given to him some days before. There was a barely-audible click as the line was switched and the real person he wanted to speak with was reached.

"What is your status?" spoke the computer-scrambled voice of the man's employer.

"The target has just left. I'm initiating pursuit. I'll contact you soon."

"Alright. Make sure you don't get too close to him, and don't arouse any suspicion. I'll have a car waiting to pick you up once you report in. Listen, Muritasu-san…be very cautious."

"…Don't worry about me. You just have my money ready for me when I get there. He's all yours after that." The man hung up quickly and pocketed his phone, then silently drew himself to his feet and began trailing the target.

* * *

Kogoro sat alone at a table, his one hand propped under his chin as the other nursed his draining mug of alcohol. Around him, the assorted patrons of the bar talked noisily, blowing off steam and enjoying the company. He himself got the occasional odd glance from others, but it seemed that no one had really recognized him yet. In his mind, he preferred it that way for now. While he normally enjoyed his loyal fans, especially if they were of the female variety, tonight he was simply interested in getting out of the house, away from his work, and away from that kid Conan. 

He grunted to no one in particular as he took another swig of his drink. That kid…He'd never admit it, but Kogoro thought he was a pretty good mystery himself. He only acted his age when something called attention to him, and it seemed that he always had the dumb luck to find some critical piece of evidence when he was around a murder case. Curiosity about the subject or not, there was always something odd in the boy's eyes when he was around a mystery. Something that never quite added up to Kogoro. The boy was exceptionally bright for his age, his scores in his schoolwork proved it. But, there was that other factor…something else, which he could never quite place his finger on, but was always hovering in the very back of his mind…

The detective blinked himself out of his own thoughts.

_'Dammit, what the hell am I doing?' _he spoke internally. _'I wanted to get away from the brat, and here I am thinking about him! No more of that, I'm enjoying my time out of there! No job to do, no stupid Conan in my way…just me and my beer…mmmm.'_ His eyes traveled up to the television sets mounted to the ceiling, wandering between the replays of that day's baseball games and some concert that was going on in downtown Tokyo. His beautiful Yokou wasn't performing in the concert, so he turned back to the sports replays. Without warning, his attention was broken by the loud thud of someone sitting down right across from him. He glanced at the man, somewhat surprised.

"Hey, you," the man said. "I know you, right? I see you on the news all the time, you're…you're that detective, Mouri Kogoro, am I right?" He was light-haired and fair-skinned, and his voice held faint traces of an American accent even though his Japanese was very precise.

"That's me," Kogoro said proudly, noting internally how impossible it would have been for him to go the whole night without someone recognizing him. "Er…you don't seem too familiar…do I know you?"

"No, no, we haven't met, Mouri-san," the man beamed happily, almost fanatically. "I'm just a huge fan of your work! I started following you…oh, I don't even remember how long ago, and I'm just obsessed with your genius, your charisma, your raw talent for solving cases, just…just…everything you do, Mouri-san!"

"Well, I'd like to say that it all came natural," Kogoro gloated in his trademark ways. "But I work hard too, just like everyone else, probably like…um…I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name…"

"Just call me Kensuke, Mouri-san. I have to say, I wish I could have your cunning and wit! I had a job with a police force once, too…"

"In America, right?" Kogoro guessed. The man grinned.

"Yeah, exactly! You really are sharp, I didn't know if you'd pick up on that! Yeah, but I didn't get anywhere in the job ladder, and I realized it wasn't cut out for me…after too many mistakes, I was fired and I ended up moving here, to Japan…Maybe if I was as smart and great as you, Mouri-san, I would have been able to keep my job in the force, but it wasn't meant to be…"

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kensuke. Not everyone is gifted with the natural skills of observation and deduction like I am…but hey, maybe that's a good thing, or else I'd be out of a job!" They shared a laugh as Kogoro reached for his beer, only to find it empty. "Damn."

"Don't worry, Mouri-san, I'll get a fresh one. On me, for being able to talk with my idol!" Kensuke jumped to his feet and quickly crossed to the bar. Kogoro eyed him amusedly. For a seemingly middle-aged man, he was acting just like a gushing schoolgirl.

_'But I guess he's that big a fan of my work. Poor guy, his failures probably led to him idolizing me. Can't say that I don't have that effect on people though,' _and he laughed silently. Kensuke returned hurriedly with two beers, setting one down in front of Kogoro and resuming his position in front of the detective.

"So, really, what's it like doing your work? What happens on typical cases?" he asked, leaning forward in his chair. Kogoro took a long drink of his beer before responding.

"Well, it's more or less the same. Often I'm working with a man from the police named Megure; he calls me in on a lot of cases. But there are others who I run into in the work, like Officers Sato and Takagi, yeah…" He took another long drink. "Of course, there are always those murders that just pop up while I'm in the area, and I work on those myself. It's my luck, I guess…or the criminal lack of luck!" He laughed loudly. "But yeah…those ones are different because a lot of times my family is right there. Not that they don't usually end up coming with me on cases anyway…you know…my daughter, Ran, she looks out for me a lot…then there's that brat, Conan…he just noses in on everything and gets in the way, you know…he's young, but he always butts in my business, and…and…uhh…" Kogoro was vaguely aware of his head dropping forward. His vision was swirling in and out, threatening to fail entirely. But…he hadn't had that much to drink at all, right? So, what was going on…?

"…-san? Uh, oh, Mouri-san…you don't look so good," he became aware of Kensuke's voice. However, the worry he would expect from one of his fans was utterly absent. Instead, he sounded…smug, condescending even. Something was definitely wrong here. "Maybe you drank too much, Mouri-san. We should get you out of here…" Kogoro realized that hands were on his back, and he fumbled with his hands, eventually sending his watch tumbling to the floor under the table. Almost immediately after, he was lifted up forcefully and guided through the sea of bodies towards the exit. His vocal cords found themselves again through the haze that was rapidly pervading his brain.

"Wha…wuh…who are…aarrr…" he slurred. The man whose name was probably not Kensuke only laughed.

"Don't worry, Mouri-san," he spoke brightly before drawing his mouth right up to the detective's ear and hissing, "_You're in perfectly good hands_…"

Kogoro could only feel the hands supporting him as his vision blacked. He began to truly feel a panic due to helplessness coming on...and then, nothing…

* * *

The phone rang, and the man made sure to activate the voice scrambler before answering. The code was confirmed and he picked up the phone.

"What is it?" he said.

"I've got him. You know, for how smart he's supposed to be, Mouri-san didn't suspect a thing," his client spoke softly.

"Excellent job, Muritasu-san! What you must do now is simple. Pretend to call for a ride, and wait where you are. I've sent an unmarked car to pick you up in five minutes and bring you here. Make sure you are not followed."

"Everything's under control. I'll see you soon," he replied crossly before hanging up. The man smiled slowly as he replaced the receiver gently.

"It's all coming together now…soon…very soon…"

* * *

Author's Notes: There you go. Already we're off to a mysterious start! Who is this Muritasu guy, and who is his shadowy employer? What do they want with Kogoro? Can I stop asking questions? I need some feedback on this idea, so please be sure to leave a review! 

I'm always up for people contacting me about my writing. Contact information is in my profile, as well as my new procedure dealing with updating and reviews.

Throughout the fic, I'll be seeing how many people can figure out what's going on. I don't think there's enough going on yet, but if anyone wants to hazard some guess...

Of course, thanks to Firestorm2004 for being my beta-reader for this chapter. Especially because I asked him completely out of nowhere to do it.

Next Time! Even though Conan is there with her, Ran can't help feeling that something has happened to her father…something horrible. Hattori Heiji has no clue what he's stumbled onto. And meanwhile, Kogoro wakes up in a strange place and a few revelations begin to shed light on the trouble he's gotten himself into…One truth prevails in Race Against Time File 2!


End file.
